On August 2 and 3, the Village of Delia will honour its legacy with a 100 year centennial celebration.
    Incorporated in 1914, Delia began as one of the period’s many booming railway communities, yet the years of 1914 and 1915 brought residents adversity. The village was facing an identity crisis.
    The homestead, originally called Highland due to its elevated point on the railway route, was in need of a secure post office. Seven miles north west of Highland, A.L. Davis operated the Delia Post Office, named after his wife Mrs. Delia Davis. After petitioning from residents of Highland, the Delia Post Office was moved into Highland, creating confusion about the town’s name; was it Delia or Highland?
    On December 15, 1915, with help from authorities, one identity was sanctioned:  the Village of Highland had been changed, making the Village Municipality of Delia the settlement’s official name.
    Now, after 100 years, residents are able to come together in order to rejoice in the village’s rich history.
    Stan Marshall, president of the Centennial Committee, is looking forward to seeing the event come together in all the activities.
    “It’s a celebration of the past and optimism for the future,” Marshall explains, “One of the things we’re doing is the rededication of the cenotaph to include anyone in the immediate area. We’re up to just under 500 men to honour, through the first and second world war, and up to date.”
    As many events are lined up for  this upcoming weekend, honouring Delia’s war heroes is just one part of the heritage the centennial will commemorate.
    The mornings of Saturday and Sunday will start off with pancake breakfasts; the nights, ending with a community dance and beer gardens. Fireworks will be held at 10:30 on Saturday night.
    With the streets of Delia lined with local artists singing and dancing, the doors of businesses open to welcome visitors, and ongoing museum presentations, graveyard and garden tours and child friendly events around the town, this centennial will try to revive the historical boom days in their celebration of past, present, and future.
    Over 1,000 people are preregistered and the event coordinators expect almost 1,500 attendees for the weekend.

2014 marks twenty-five years of travel from Stettler to Big Valley for Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions. Pictured is the company’s 1920 Baldwin No. 41 steam engine, which is 62 feet long and weighs 244,000 pounds.                  

Visitors from around the world make their way to Alberta to experience a memorable piece of the prairie’s past.
    Alberta Prairie Railway excursions celebrates twenty-five years in business this year, and has also been working to support the Big Valley 100th anniversary celebrations over the August long weekend.
    General Manager Bob Willis said the company will be taking part in Saturday’s Centennial parade.
    They will be hosting a breakfast on Sunday, have made a financial donation to the centennial, and are co-sponsoring the Sunday performances of wild west shows by The Guns of the Golden West.
  Alberta Prairie Railway provides visitors to the area with a rail trip experience from Stettler to Big Valley and return, using one of the company’s genuine, restored steam or diesel locomotives that date from the days when the railways were the main movers of goods and people across Canada.
   The engines they use include a 1920 Baldwin steam engine and a 1944 Montreal steam locomotive.
   Willis said there is one train a day because the trips, which include a meal and entertainment, usually last five to six hours.
  He said the rail excursions draw both local visitors and visitors from around the world.